Testicular cancer is completely curable if detected early and 80% if diagnosed in the presence of metastases. This cancer represents 1% of male neoplasms and 5% of urological tumors. It normally affects men between 15 and 40 years of age, reaching its peak between 30 and 34 years of age.
European countries are the most affected, especially northern and eastern countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and Slovenia. The lowest levels are in Uganda and Thailand, which are located in Africa and Asia respectively. Cases are currently increasing in countries with lower incidence and decreasing in countries with higher incidence.
Testicular tumors are classified according to the type of testicular cells from which they originate. Approximately 90% of adults suffer from testicular cancer due to a germ cell, whereas 65-75% of those under 15 years of age suffer from testicular cancer.
Testicular cancer usually presents as a painless unilateral scrotal mass, following a chance ultrasound finding or as a consequence of scrotal trauma, although pain is not usually present as an initial symptom, it may be so in up to 20% of cases.
One of the main risk factors is cryptorchidism, a pathology that occurs when the testicles have not been placed in the scrotal sac during childhood, increasing the chances of developing testicular cancer by 2 to 8 times. Another risk factor is testicular microcalcifications.
Ultrasonography is the technique that can detect testicular cancer almost 100%. In testicular ultrasound with Doppler, well-defined and delimited benign tumors are detected. In addition, blood tumor markers are essential for diagnosis and postoperatively.